Open Your Eyes
by TwistedSky
Summary: Tyler is hiding something from bride-to-be Bonnie. Damon realizes that he can't let Bonnie marry Tyler, though he's not sure why. Bonnie gets caught in the middle. Bonnie/Damon. Future AU.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing :) But all mistakes are my own.

* * *

The day he discovers that Bonnie is dating Tyler, the world does not end, he does not feel a shift in his own personal universe. Nothing changes.

He doesn't really care to notice as they grow closer and closer. And, if he gave it the thought—which he rarely did—he would have said that he believed that they wouldn't last, that their relationship was merely a phase, and therefore completely inconsequential. And, frankly—he would have added—he didn't care.

The day he discovers that Bonnie is _marrying _Tyler, the world crashes down around him, and he feels something that he'd thought was long dead begin to rot and die within him. In a typical sort of Damon way he decides it means one of two things: either he needs to get laid, or he needs to ignore it. He does both, using the former, in fact, to achieve the latter.

It doesn't really work—that is, the part about managing to ignore it. He tries not to think about it, though it's nearly impossible since that's all that she, Caroline, and Elena talk about it seems. But he tries. It's a six month engagement, and he swears that if he has to listen to all of this nonsense wedding planning for that long, heads may literally start to roll.

Nearly a month after they become engaged, it comes to him. He doesn't want her marry him. It's rather strange, because he doesn't know where this knowledge comes from, he doesn't quite understand _why _he doesn't want her to marry Tyler.

He's pretty sure he doesn't want her for himself. Or, at least that's his official position. To be honest—which is not something Damon always excels at—he just knows that he _can't_ have her for himself.

There are half a million reasons why, and he acknowledges them all. The one that hurts the most is that she hates him, blames him for so many damn things, there's no way he could ever make things right. He's tried. And yeah, he knows that it's a hopeless situation.

Although "old Damon" would have simply either taken her for himself—which he'd already concluded was pointless—or broken them up just because if he couldn't be with her, then he didn't want anyone else to be with her either . . . he wasn't that guy anymore. There's a part of him that can't let her marry Tyler, and there's a part of him that knows he has to accept that that's what she wants to do.

He wants her to be happy. He doesn't quite understand it. He doesn't want to feel the way he does—and frankly, he isn't even quite sure exactly how he feels anyway.

So he did what he did best. He went to go threaten someone with bodily harm.

* * *

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Damon smirked. "You don't sound happy to see me. I'm hurt."

Tyler just stared at him, meeting his eyes confidently. "Do I need to break out the teeth?" Hah. Lame werewolf joke. Not funny.

Damon stood his ground, and didn't step back. He wouldn't hurt him. "Of course not. I just came by for a little . . . chat."

Tyler lifted a brow, "A chat?" Because that made sense. Not.

"You're marrying Bonnie."

"Yeah, I am. What's it to you?" Tyler obviously didn't understand where Damon was going with this.

Damon wasn't a fool, and he wasn't a cute, cuddly vampire who liked to wear his heart on his shoulder. "Nothing. But, it _is _something to Elena and Stefan, and Caroline . . . everyone, really. My point is, mutt, that if you hurt her in anyway, or in some way shirk your duties and she's not happy? Well, I _will _kill you." He said it with a smile, but the glint in his eye said that he was deadly serious.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Don't be so crass. It's more of a friendly suggestion."

* * *

By the next day, Tyler has almost gotten over the strangeness of Damon's warning. At least, he tells himself he has, because the truth is, it's really unnerved him.

He goes to see his bride-to-be.

"Tyler, hey," she slides into his arms. "I missed you."

"I saw you the day before yesterday. It hasn't been that long." He says it, but in fact he's glad that she misses him already. That whatever is going on with Damon has nothing to do with Bonnie.

"I know." Bonnie smiles, cheekily, "But I'm allowed to miss you, aren't I?"

"Of course," he sighs with relief and wraps her up in his arms. "I love you, you know."

"Yes, I do. I mean, we are getting married . . . I certainly hope you love me. Or else I'd have to hurt you." Bonnie says jokingly, but then she looks up at him and sees that something's not right, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Liar. What's going on, Tyler?"

Tyler fidgets with his hair nervously. "Are you—Do you know if Damon has feelings for you?"

Bonnie snorts. The laughter just churns out uncontrollably. She thinks it's possibly the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard come out of someone's mouth. She can't believe this is what he wants to know.

Tyler is comforted by her reaction. "Would that be no?"

Finally, she manages to calm herself down and stop laughing. "That's ridiculous. Where would you get such a ludicrous idea?"

"He came to talk to me. He warned me not to hurt you. I have yet another person ready to destroy me if I break your heart, apparently."

Bonnie lifts her hand to his face, "It's a good thing you're not going to do that then, isn't it?" she teases. "But seriously," her smile disappears into her "Serious Bonnie" face, "If you're not ready for this—us, it's okay. I love you enough to let you go."

She wants him to ask her not to leave him. She holds her breath nervously.

"Don't." He takes her back into his arms and whispers into her hair, "I love you."

"I love you too." She breathes.

She does love him, of course. But the seeds of doubt have already been planted.

* * *

Mason hears his nephew walk into the study. "Hey, Ty, why are you here instead of with that lovely fiancé of yours?" It's midnight, so it's definitely a valid question.

"I'm worried."

"About what?"

"Damon."

Mason sighs, "What has that annoying vampire gotten himself into now?"

"My life. He came to warn me yesterday. He warned me not to break Bonnie's heart."

Mason merely blinked in response. "That's . . . strange. And definitely worth worrying about, as is anything out of the ordinary when it comes to Damon."

"Damon is just naturally out of the ordinary. This is different, it's suspicious."

"I'll see if I can find out what he's up to."

"Thanks." Tyler makes a move to leave, then quickly turns around and faces his uncle again. "Do you think he knows?"

Mason thought carefully. "I don't know. I don't think so, but you can't be too careful."

* * *

"What the hell did you say to Tyler?" Bonnie charges in, demanding with everything that she is that he answer her, honestly.

"We just had a little talk," Damon replies, not even bothering to look up from his drink.

"About what?"

"Hey, I was just defending your honor. Trying to be helpful."

Bonnie stares at him for a moment. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I was just trying to be nice."

"Why?"

Damon sighs. "I have no idea, especially considering how rude you are. Just waltzing into my home like this? Tsk tsk. I thought better of you, Bon Bon."

Bonnie begins to seethe. Originally she'd just been a little annoyed, but now she was on her way to furious. She focuses for a moment.

"Ow! Damn. Not nice, Bon Bon."

"Stop calling me that, Damon. Just be honest with me. Why?"

He sighs. He twists the glass around in his hand. The vodka offers no answers. "It's perfectly reasonable for me to go the fiancé of my brother's girlfriend's best friend and make sure he's not going to do anything stupid."

Bonnie just stares at him, completely shocked. "No—it's not. In fact, that's possibly the worst explanation you could have given me."

Damon merely shrugged. "Take it or leave it, it's the only one you're going to get."

Bonnie throws her hands up, exasperated. "I don't know why I bother. Anyway, stay away from Tyler, and stay away from me."

"You do realize I'm invited to the wedding?"

"Sadly, yes. It's not like I could leave you out without the whole town getting suspicious." Which is too damn bad, in her opinion. "If you ruin my wedding, I will personally castrate you in the most painful way possible."

Bonnie smiles when she sees him wince.

"Fine."

"Fine." She leaves, happily having diverted the disaster.

He watches her leave, happily planning on making sure that there's an even bigger one in the future.

Because verbally sparring with Bonnie had just made him realize something.

He wants her to be happy. But there's no way in hell she'll be happy with Tyler. So when he ruins their wedding, she'll just have to deal with it, because he's doing her a favor-regardless of whether or not she thinks so.

* * *

It's a little quirky. But I'm just a quirky sort of girl. Review?


	2. Chapter 2

First, I disclaim! Second, thank you for all of the lovely feedback! It was shocking! And very much appreciated! I hope you enjoy this . . . *sidesteps nervously* Oh, and now that I've set up the story, the tense changes.

* * *

It was girls' night out, and the three of them had decided they weren't really in the mood for that, so it was more like . . . girls' night _in_.

"I can't believe you're fearless enough to eat all of this considering that you're getting married in a few months." Caroline said, looking at the popcorn, chocolate, pizza, ice cream, and obscene amount of unhealthy pigging-out food in front of them. And, of course, there was alcohol-which had been the first thing the three of them had gone for and honestly . . . they were already a bit tipsy.

"I haven't picked the dress yet, so I'm still allowed to gain weight." Bonnie replied, biting into a piece of pizza. "Mmm, this is really good."

"You need to do that soon, Bonnie. In fact, this entire wedding is a mess so far as I can see. Honestly, I don't see much of a wedding at all." Caroline said, completely exasperated. "All you have are a date and a location."

"And a fiance," Elena added, teasingly.

Bonnie put her pizza down—looking at it sadly—so that she could respond. "It'll be fine. That's why we're here, right? So that the three of us can start planning my wedding." Elena nodded her head really hard—until she got dizzy and had to stop. Bonnie raised a brow. It seemed like _someone _was already a little drunk. Bonnie turned to Caroline, who merely rolled her eyes, shrugged, and bit into her own slice of pizza.

"Tyler and I have been giving this some thought, and we want you two to be our best woman and maid of honor." Bonnie said into the food-inspired silence.

Caroline choked on her pizza, "What?"

Bonnie sighed, she'd expected this sort of reaction. "Mason can't make it to the wedding, and after everything with Matt . . . Tyler wants you to stand up for him."

Caroline sat quietly for a moment, then smiled. "I'd love to," she leaned over and hugged Bonnie. As she pulled away she looked at Elena, "So I guess that makes you the maid of honor."

"I suppose so," Elena smiled and grabbed her friends toward her. "Group hug!"

The three of them squealed in the girliest fashion possible and hugged until they fell over and someone started a tickle fight. It was probably the alcohol's fault, because they normally weren't this obscenely giggly.

* * *

_The next day . . . _

Tyler sat on a rock, looking out at the pond on his family's property.

"I would have saved him, if I'd found him earlier." Tyler turned around quickly at the sound of her voice, nearly falling off his rock.

Caroline sped to his side, helping him get re-situated on the rock. "Sorry, I always forget that I'm quick, and that I scare people."

"Don't worry about it. I knew you were there, I just turned around too quickly." He'd been so distracted by his thoughts that he hadn't noticed how close she was. He tried to shake himself free from his mental reverie. "No worries."

"Oh, cool." Caroline plopped herself down next to Tyler. "I heard the big news from Bonnie last night. Thanks."

"Who else would I have chosen?" Tyler asked, not really expecting an answer. "You were there for me when I lost my best friend. You've been a good friend, Caroline," he said softly. "Thank you."

A shadow of pain crossed her face. Tyler nearly smacked himself. "I'm sorry. You lost him too."

"Yeah. I did. It's been two years, Tyler. Eventually we're going to have to move on." Caroline said in a way that _screamed _that she didn't actually believe what she was saying.

Tyler turned to her, "How did you know what I was thinking about?"

Caroline smiled a sad smile, "You only come here to think about him."

"I didn't realize I was so transparent," he joked feebly.

"Only to me," Caroline replied, with a hint of wistfulness.

They were quiet—the only noise they could hear was the slight chirping of birds, and a rustling of the wind through the trees.

"I think he'd be happy for you two." Caroline said suddenly.

"I hope so," Tyler smiled at Caroline, then looked back out over the water. "I think he'd want you to move on too, Caroline. He wouldn't want you to be alone like this. You deserve to fall in love again. He'd-"

"Don't. You, of all people, are not allowed to talk to me about relationships, or dating. Please, just . . . don't." She interrupted him, tired of listening to him try to convince her to start dating again. "I can't. I just . . . I can't."

They let a companionable silence sweep over them.

"I'm sorry." Tyler finally said, taking her hand in his.

"So am I." She squeezed it.

They just sat there together, without saying a word, for almost ten minutes.

"Thank you, for choosing me to be stand up for you. I really do appreciate the sentiment."

"I knew you would."

They shared a smile.

"I should go." Caroline got up off her rock.

"Probably, I should too. I have to go meet Bonnie soon, anyway."

"Don't be surprised if she's still a little off base. We were up late last night," Caroline winked teasingly at him.

"It's almost six. I think she's probably already worked off her hangover by now."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Caroline waved goodbye as she ran off to go meet Elena, Stefan, and Damon for dinner. As Tyler watched her go, he smiled. If it weren't for Caroline, he wouldn't have Bonnie, he was truly appreciative for every thing she'd done to help them realize how perfect they were for each other.

He suppressed the niggling thought that he should tell her the truth. If he did, he'd probably lose her, and he wouldn't be able to bear it.

* * *

_Elsewhere_

"Elena. Stefan." Damon greeted them.

"Damon. You're early." Stefan said, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to talk to you," Damon said as he dropped down onto the couch.

Stefan looked at Elena who merely shrugged. "About what?"

"It's quite simple, actually. I don't think Bonnie and Tyler should get married."

At that moment Caroline walked in. "What the hell, Damon? I spent months trying to get those two to realize how perfect they are together. You are not going to break them up, okay?"

Damon merely sighed, "This is why I was early, I wanted to avoid _her_." He said, ignoring her actual presence.

"While you're at it, you can _leave _early." Caroline suggested, obviously annoyed.

"She has a point, Damon. Why do you want to break up Tyler and Bonnie? That doesn't really seem like something that would be of interest to you." Elena said, suspicious of his motives.

"I have my reasons."

Stefan just looked at his brother, waiting for him to look away from Caroline and Elena, and toward him. Eventually he did, and Stefan recognized what he saw in his brother's eyes. _Oh_. "You're in love with her." Stefan stated, somewhat disbelievingly.

Elena looked shocked, and Caroline gasped audibly.

"No, I'm not. I'm just concerned. Why would you even ask such a ridiculous question?" Damon asked, uncomfortable with the fact that everyone seemed to think he had some sort of secret feelings for Bonnie. He didn't.

"It wasn't a question." Stefan replied.

"Then it was a ridiculous statement." Damon shrugged, as if he didn't really care. He stood up, "So when are we eating?"

Elena quirked her head to the side, "Now, actually." They all stepped into the kitchen.

"Caroline, please pass the potatoes," Damon said, smirking.

Her eyes darkened in anger, her vampy teeth started to protrude, "No."

"Caroline," Stefan said, warningly.

"Are you taking his side?" Caroline asked, derisively.

"No, but that doesn't mean you have to be unnecessarily rude." Stefan reached for the bowl and passed it to Damon.

"Say thank you, Damon." Elena urged.

"Thank you," Damon said in an exaggerated example of gratitude.

"If you mess with them, I will kill you." Caroline said sweetly.

"Really? That should be entertaining to watch. If I were you, Elena, I would keep track of your little friend here, or things might not turn out so well for her."

"Both of you, stop it. Please," Elana said firmly.

"Fine."

"Fine."

* * *

He wasn't in love with her. He couldn't be-If he were, he would know. And he most certainly did not know Or, well, he did. He knew he wasn't in love with her, he assured himself.

After dinner he'd waited for his brother to come talk to him. Predictably, Stefan sat down across from Damon.

"I'm not going to help you." Stefan said firmly, almost apologetically.

"I don't need your help. I was merely trying to share with both of you how ridiculous it is for them to get married. And I thought, as their friends, that you would want to help me stop them from making such a huge mistake."

Stefan merely lifted a brow. "That's all? Because that sounds like a lot. You can't do this, Damon."

"I can't let her marry him."

"Why not?"

Stefan waited for his brother's answer, wondering if he'd actually be honest. "I don't know," Damon said finally, honestly.

"Maybe you should figure it out before you decide to ruin their _wedding_."

"I can't."

Stefan sighed, "Then just be careful. Tyler and his uncle do have the power to kill you."

"I know that." Damon said, annoyed.

The two brothers just stared at each other.

Finally, Stefan broke the silence. "They're having dinner at the park."

Damon got up quickly, grabbing his jacket, "I thought you said you weren't going to help me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not helping you, I was merely stating a fact." Stefan smiled at his brother.

Damon turned around at the entrance to the room they'd been in, "Thanks."

"Good luck." _You'll need it_, he thought to himself.

* * *

Bonnie Bennett was perfectly happy with the way her life was. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but she loved it just the same. She loved her job, she loved her friends, and she loved Tyler.

And, despite what everyone seemed to think, she didn't hate Damon. She used to, a lot, in fact. But at some point she'd just had to grow up, and had to let go of her hatred and anger. Admittedly, he'd saved her life—or helped her friends—more times than she gave him credit for. She let him, and everyone else, believe that she hated him because it was easier than admitting that she'd been wrong.

However, when he did stupid things like trying to scare her fiance into submission, honestly, she easily remembered how it felt to hate him.

She also remembered how it felt to love him—but that was also something she had never, and would never share with annoying soul, living or dead.

She walked around the park, looking for Tyler and the romantic picnic he'd apparently planned.

"Bon Bon, don't you think you should be a little safer? Walking around at night like this? It isn't safe."

Bonnie turned around. Damn. "Damon."

* * *

And part two is complete. With a bit of a cliffy. Hehe.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own . . . nothing. Anyways, chapter three! Sorry it took a few days, I got distracted by, well, life. And, honestly, I was writing Chlollie. It happens.

* * *

"Damon." Bonnie sighed.

"That's my name." Damon smiled, snarkily—Bonnie wasn't quite sure if it were possible to smile snarkily, but seeing his face, she rather thought it was, and he did it quite well. Damn it.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked, obviously annoyed and a bit flustered.

"Saving you from yourself." Damon replied, as if he actually believed it.

It was the confidence that bothered her. If he'd been nervous, or in the least bit doubtful about doing anything, he wouldn't get on her nerves so much. She concentrated for a moment. Retaliation, of course, was the only acceptable course of action. She might as well leave him with a bit of a headache.

"Ouch. That's not nice." Damon wished he'd figured out how Katherine had been impervious to Bonnie's magic before he'd staked her. Bonnie was quite fond of torturing him-which, admittedly, was part of why he found her so entertaining to be around. Or well, to be honest, it was why he found her so entertaining to _tease_.

"So? Somehow, when you decide to engage in some sort of hair-brained scheme I'm supposed to be nice to you? Hell no. Leave me alone, Damon." Bonnie bit out, almost viciously.

"I can't." Damon replied, simply and honestly. He might have wanted to mess with her, but he didn't want her to hate him anymore.

Bonnie merely sighed, completely exasperated. "I don't believe that, in fact, I think you're just trying to annoy me, or make me miserable, possibly just because you're bored. Because that's who you are Damon. You're the guy who does this sort of thing for fun."

"Not this time."

"I don't understand what's wrong with you, Damon. I just got a text from Caroline saying that you're trying to convince Elena and Stefan to band together with you and ruin my wedding. Please, stop."

"Bonnie, I—" Damon moved closer to her, pressing his hand up against her cheek. "Please."

He did it in the same way he always did when he was trying to intimidate her, only this time it felt different. It wasn't quite threatening-or, at least, it was threatening in a different sort of way.

She slapped him away. Or, at least, that's what she wanted to do. Instead she just stood there, looking into his eyes, almost leaning into his hand, but she caught herself in time. "Please what?"

"Don't marry him."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't marry him." Bonnie wondered why there was a tiny part of her that wanted him to talk her out of it. Honestly, that just infuriated her even more, and made her even more determined to make her engagement work and get away from Damon.

"He's not right for you."

Bonnie felt her heart sink. She took a moment to steel her nerves—she needed to be angry. She needed to hate him, she needed to make him leave her alone. He'd answered her appeal for a reason why she shouldn't marry Tyler in exactly the same way she'd expected—though not necessarily the way she might have secretly hoped he would.

Damon, Damon, _Damon_. Thinking about him, and having him stand so close to her, made her nervous usually. And, as usual, she masked it with anger.

"Well, who is then?" Bonnie demanded finally, her temper burning brighter and brighter with every moment. "Because as far as I can tell he's a nice, stable, amazing guy who loves me. What should I be looking for, Damon?"

"Something more," Damon finally dropped his hand away from her cheek and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "Just more, Bonnie."

"Not good enough," Bonnie said, her heart sinking. He was too close, just too close.

Damon felt himself lean closer to Bonnie, as if there were a magnetic energy pulling him closer and closer . . . he couldn't tell if she felt it, couldn't tell if she was being drawn closer to him or not.

It didn't matter though.

In the middle of the park, in the dark of night, Bonnie and Damon shared their first kiss.

* * *

Tyler had no idea where his lovely fiance was, and he was beginning to get worried, because she was running late. Not just fashionably late, but "I could have been attacked by a serial killer" late. So he set off to find her, worried that something may have happened to her.

He pulled out his cell phone and tried to call her, yet again. "Damn it. Bonnie, answer already." Voicemail. Tyler sighed.

He walked around a corner just in time to see Bonnie slap Damon.

Tyler was about to call out to her when she started to to yell at Damon. "Don't ever do that again!"

"I-" Damon started to speak, then he just ran off.

"Bonnie," Tyler called out. "Are you okay?

Bonnie turned to him and looked much like a deer caught in headlights. "Tyler. Hey. I-sorry for being late. I, um, got distracted."

"I saw. Damon."

"Yeah, Damon." Bonnie sighed, walking toward her fiance. "Sorry."

"Anything you want to tell me about?" Tyler asked, wondering if she'd tell him about whatever Damon had done.

"No, I mean, there's nothing to talk about. He was just being . . . Damon. He won't let it go."

"I don't trust him, be careful."

Bonnie blinked in surprise. "He wouldn't hurt me."

"He might."

Bonnie opened her mouth, about to argue, because no matter what he said or did, Damon Salvatore would not hurt her, then decided not to bother. She simply shrugged, "Dinner?"

"Yeah, of course. This way," Tyler led her off, looking back behind him at where Bonnie and Damon had been standing. Damon was becoming a problem.

* * *

"Leave him alone, Ty."

"I can't believe you're on his side, Caroline."

"I'm not," she protested. "I'm simply trying to remind you to be careful. It's dangerous to be around him. Plus, he's not worth it. Bonnie loves you, and you love her. Everything is going to be fine. Don't waste your time worrying about him."

Mason walked into the living room at that moment, "Caroline, how nice to see you. How's your mother?"

"Fine, I'm sure. We're not exactly close."Caroline snorted.

"Family is family. We Lockwoods always take great care to remember that, don't we Tyler?"

"Yup, Uncle Mase."

"Hey, Tyler, why don't you get this lovely lady something to drink." Mason ordered.

"I'm fine." Caroline said.

"Tyler," Mason said firmly.

Tyler left off to get her some lemonade. "Why is it so important that Tyler get me something to drink? What, do you want to threaten my life for fun?"

Mason stepped closer to her, "Tsk tsk. Don't be so conflict-ready. I was just trying to encourage my nephew to grow some manners, he is getting married soon. I'm sure Bonnie would appreciate it."

"I'm sure she'd rather be left alone by you, I think she's more of a cat person."

Mason quickly grabbed her neck, shoving her up against the wall. His eyes glowed yellow. "Don't test me, sweetheart."

"Or what?"

Tyler walked back in at that moment. As he was about to demand that his uncle let Caroline go, she reversed the situation, choking him as her eyes went black. "Don't test me, Mason. Don't get cocky. I will kill you if you're not careful."

Tyler coughed. Caroline turned to him, her eyes went back to normal, she simply dropped Mason to the ground. "Sorry, Ty. You know how he provokes me."

"Don't listen to her, Ty. She started it."

"You two are like little school children." Tyler said, bemused. "Somehow, I love you both. It shocks me daily that you both manage to coexist in this town."

* * *

Bonnie Bennett realized that she was in love with Damon Salvatore fairly early into their encounters. Admittedly, yes, she'd hated him at first. In fact, until the whole Katherine debacle, she hadn't done more than simply-_barely_- tolerate him.

Katherine, however, brought out the best and the worst of Damon. In the end, Katherine had been killed, the Lockwoods and the Salvatores had declared an uneasy truce, and she'd been stuck with impossible situation of having to understand feelings for Damon.

He'd been fearless, and entertaining, and he had this soft vulnerability underneath-_far _underneath-his dark, cocky, stubborn, annoying, _frustrating_ exterior. She'd spent quite a long time trying to convince herself out of it. In the end, it had been falling for Tyler that had shifted her affections. She liked to think she'd completely gotten over Damon. But when he did things like this, like tell her not to marry Tyler . . . she doubted herself.

Last night, when he'd kissed her, or she'd kissed him-honestly, she didn't even know-she hadn't known what to do. She'd enjoyed it, first and foremost.

Kissing Tyler was lovely and nice. He was hot, and he had technique.

Kissing Damon was a difference experience altogether. He was amazing, it was hard, passionate, soft, and _hungry_. She'd pulled away later than she should have, and she wasn't proud. She'd slapped him not because he kissed her, but because she'd let him, because she'd wanted him to, and because she had wanted him to continue doing so.

She hated him, but she hated herself more. She loved Tyler, right? She should have been happy with him.

Apparently she wasn't. And she hated Damon for making her realize that.

She loved Tyler.

But maybe she wasn't-in that horribly cliched sense-in love with him anymore. Maybe-she didn't want to admit this to anyone, let alone herself-she never had been.

She'd been floundering, and after Matt had died . . . everything had been so much harder. Caroline had-in retrospect-probably talked her into loving Tyler. Bonnie didn't blame Caroline, but she did realize where the fault lay.

If she were to be honest with herself she had to acknowledge that the fault was, of course, hers.

* * *

Damon knew something was not quite right in the world. In fact, he knew there were many such not-right things, yet there was very little he could do about most of them. This one that he was currently grappling with, however, was impossible to ignore.

He'd kissed Bonnie. There was no turning away from that. You could tell yourself that you didn't have feelings for someone, but you couldn't exactly say you didn't kiss someone when you, well, did. It was objective.

Two people, one kiss, seven seconds-which was much longer than he thought she should have let him kiss her.

Damn it. If she'd pushed him away instantaneously, it would have been fine. But she'd kissed back, and now he was stuck. He knew how soft her lips were, how passionate she was . . . he knew what she tasted like.

Maybe Stefan was partially right, maybe he did have feelings for Bonnie. But that wasn't why he didn't want her to marry Tyler.

He still didn't quite understand _why _he didn't want her to marry Tyler. It just felt so wrong . . . and when she was in his arms things felt right.

Damon sighed, took a sip of his drink.

His desire to break up Bonnie and Tyler had become a necessity-and there was no turning back now.

* * *

Okay, so it's a weird-ish chapter. But yeah. Up next: Tyler shares a secret. But with whom? And how much does he tell them?


	4. Chapter 4

I disclaim. And I fail at updating, but I blame midterms :(

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Bonnie Bennett believed firmly in the power of avoidance. Of pretending you didn't feel the way you did, of pretending that you weren't avoiding people, of pretending not to feel as screwed up as she happened to feel.

Bonnie was therefore firmly a supporter of not telling anyone that she and Damon had kissed. Or that it made her doubt her engagement to Tyler-or that she had ever had feelings for or fancied herself in love with Damon.

She would talk to her friends about it. Eventually. In the meantime she would continue on as if nothing had changed, as if she were going to get married to Tyler without a second thought about Damon.

Bonnie Bennett was in _denial_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Two months later—Four months until the wedding_

If Tyler had taken the time to plan it out, he might not have told Caroline. He might have just found his uncle and talked to him instead—after all, Mason already knew, it was a much safer course of action.

However, things hadn't happened the way he wanted them to. He was at the end of his rope, and he was drinking too much, which tended to make him say and do things he shouldn't.

And he had plenty of reasons to drink. For the past two months, Damon had decided to randomly pop up—he said it was coincidental, but it obviously wasn't—and interrupt almost every date, dinner, lunch, or trip to the movies that Tyler and Bonnie had together.

It was annoying, to say the least. And it was driving Tyler crazy.

_Two months_—and it was unacceptable. And, because apparently that wasn't bad enough, with every day it got closer and closer to the 'anniversary'—which was a word none of them liked to use because it felt too celebratory, and it wasn't something they wanted to celebrate so much as cry—of Matt's death.

So, all in all, it was an awful situation.

When Tyler made plans to go to the tuxedo fitting with Caroline to discuss her role as his "Best Woman" as she liked to call it, he had no idea what was about to happen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Stefan, tell Damon to stop, please." Bonnie couldn't stand it anymore. "He's driving me insane, and he's distracting us from planning the wedding. Last night he decided to force a band to come over during our dinner and play break up songs."

"I think that's the point, Bonnie. Anyway, you know Damon doesn't listen to me."

Bonnie sighed, "I know. I swear though, I feel like he's stalking us, he knows where we are, when we'll be there, why we're there . . . it makes me wonder whether he has an accomplice." Bonnie gave Stefan a stern look, raising an eyebrow and daring him to admit that he was the one leaking information to Damon.

"Maybe he does," Stefan replied noncommittally.

"Stefan, please."

"Please what?" Elena walked into the room at that moment.

"Please stop helping Damon ruin my life."

"Stefan, is this true?" Elena planted her hands on her hips and asked him, as if she were his mother.

Bonnie felt the hint of a smile edge its way onto her face, and Stefan smiled shamelessly. "Oh, but Elena, she lacks proof. It's merely conjecture."

Elena smiled and turned from her boyfriend to Bonnie, "Is he really ruining your life?"

"She makes a valid point. He's just Damon. He can try all he wants, but you have to let him ruin your life." Stefan added before kissing Elena and waving as he backed out of the room.

Bonnie called out after Stefan as he left. "Yes, he can!" Bonnie turned to her best friend and sighed. "Elena, I need to talk to you."

Elena quirked her head, concerned. "Are you okay? Is it cold feet? Because cold feet I can deal with, running off to get married in Ireland? Or jumping off a cliff? That I can't handle."

Bonnie would have smiled, but she wasn't in the smiling mood. "You and I haven't really gotten a chance to talk lately."

"We've talked quite a bit, Bonnie, with all of the wedding planning. Which reminds me, have you decided on the flowers?"

Bonnie opened her mouth about to explain that that was _not_ what she meant by _talk_, but she sighed instead. "Yes, Elena, we have."

"Good. Okay, let's get on the road and go dress shopping. Ready?"

"Call Caroline and see if she can make it." Bonnie said, pulling out her own phone to text Tyler.

She could talk to them both while they were dress shopping.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, oops." Caroline said, talking into her phone. "I have to go shopping with the girls. I'll see you at four for the tuxedo fitting." Caroline smiled—she was really getting into this whole "Best Woman" business. "Later," she said, and then she ended the call. She was damn awesome at this sort of thing.

She looked at her watch and cursed under her breath. It was almost nine. She was standing outside of Elena and Stefan's now-shared home. Bonnie and Elena were never on time to anything. How were they ever supposed to get anything done if they didn't pay attention to what time it was?

How would they ever get anything done if they didn't have _her_? They wouldn't, Caroline believed. She sighed. They were hopeless without her.

At that moment Elena and Bonnie walked out of the house, laughing about something that Caroline was sure wasn't funny enough to warrant them being late.

"Let's get this show on the road." Caroline said, smiling as if they weren't fifteen minutes late-which was truly annoying because they'd been inside, which meant it took less than a minute to _walk out of the house_. Ugh. They drove her crazy sometimes, but she loved them.

"You say that like we're a traveling circus." Elena said.

"We are. We've got the witch, the vampire and then we have you," Bonnie cut in, gesturing towards Elena, "And I don't even know how to start talking about that trainwreck."

"Bitch." Elena said, looking slightly offended.

"You know you love me." Bonnie said confidently, flipping her hair.

"I do." Elena smiled and shooed Bonnie into the car. "Just teasing." Caroline slid into the car as she heard Elena continue, "But you're still a bitch."

"Okay, if we can stop the name calling for just a few minutes, we need to hurry this up. I have to get back by four."

"Yes, Caroline." Elena slid into the passenger seat, accidentally meeting Bonnie's eyes as she slid into the driver's seat. They burst out laughing.

"It's not funny."

They kept laughing.

"Still not funny."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is the perfect dress," Caroline stated three hours later. She took a picture of Bonnie in it with her phone. "Don't you think?"

"It's nice." Elena said.

"It's nice, but it's not right." Bonnie said, disagreeing. "It's just not the dress I want to wear on my wedding day."

"I think Tyler would love it." Elena added to her previous statement of 'nice' after a stern look from Caroline.

Bonnie looked down. "Probably." It didn't help to hear that at all. The dress she wanted to wear to her wedding and the dress she wanted to wear for Tyler should have been the same dress.

"You've tried on dozens of dresses. I think this is it." Caroline said as if that settled everything.

Bonnie looked at herself in the mirror. "Maybe. Anyway, so I've been trying to wait for an opening for hours to talk to you guys about something . . . "

"What's going on? Have you decided on flowers?" Caroline turned excitedly toward Bonnie. "Yay!"

"She has—she said she called the florist yesterday." Elena cut in.

"Perfect." Caroline said. "Really, you were lagging it on the flowers. And the dress. And the—"

"I finished the guest list, I chose the invitations, we mailed them, we're taking dancing lessons, I've chosen bridesmaid dresses, I've chosen the cake. Stop, please, with the wedding." Bonnie said in a rush, as if she'd been bottled up and she was finally exploding.

Elena and Caroline just stared at her. "Well, that's good sweetie, but there are still a lot of things to do," Caroline began, ready to list them all off.

"Please, shut up Caroline. If I don't get the opportunity to talk to someone about this, there may not be a wedding." Bonnie interrupted, obviously exasperated.

"What do you mean, no wedding?" Caroline asked, wide-eyed. "There _will _be a wedding, Bonnie. Even if you decide not to show up for it, the show must go on."

"When did you start using so many clichéd phrases?" Elena turned to Caroline.

Caroline ignored her, "Bonnie, what's going on?"

"You guys know I love Tyler—" Bonnie began.

"Yada yada, happily ever after. Get to the good stuff, or well, what's wrong." Caroline interrupted, attempting to hurry things along. She checked her watch, "We still have a few hours before we have to get back, and while we're here I wanted to show you the location for the reception that Tyler and I picked out."

"Damon has been in the way for a while now. And I've been having doubts—"

"Because of Damon? That's ridiculous." Caroline was indignant.

"He kissed me a couple of months ago."

"A kiss? That's not a big deal." Caroline interrupted yet again.

"Caroline, let her speak." Elena shushed her friend. "Have you told Tyler?"

"Nope. If she had, he would have told me." Caroline answered for her.

Bonnie felt her blood pressure boiling. She focused for a moment and listened as Caroline gasped in pain. "Bonnie!"

"I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to my closest friends about something, and I thought you'd be more supportive. This is why I didn't tell you before, but I thought I would burst if I didn't say something." Bonnie was close to tears.

Caroline got up and walked right up to her, placing her hands on Bonnie's shoulders. "You love Tyler, you are marrying Tyler. That is all that matters. Everything else? It's not important. Forget about stupid Damon, and buy this dress. Marry Tyler in this dress, and I promise you, everything will be okay."

Bonnie was done arguing. "Fine."

When Caroline went to go find a salesperson to say they'd found the dress, Elena got up and walked over to Caroline. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"It really is a beautiful dress."

Bonnie looked at herself in the mirror again. "It is." But it was the wrong damn beautiful dress.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damon kissed her," Caroline said without preamble.

"Who?" Tyler asked without turning around. Caroline had barged into the house and he'd been sitting comfortably on his couch typing away at his computer. "Elena? That doesn't surprise me, he's always had a thing for her."

"Bonnie."

Tyler stopped typing and moved his computer off his lap. "What? When?"

"A few months ago, apparently. She didn't give details. Apparently it's been bugging her."

"She didn't tell me," Tyler said quietly, almost as if to himself.

"She feels awful about it. And plus, he kissed her, so it's no big deal. I'm just telling you because I don't want there to be secrets between us." Caroline thought for a moment, "Or, well, you two."

"Thanks." Tyler said, not really thankful, just rather contemplative.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"You're early, I'm still working on something." Tyler chided.

"Sorry, but we found the perfect dress in a lot less time than I thought we would."

Tyler smiled, "You know, someone in the military should probably just hire you, you'd handle everything efficiently as could be."

"True, but then I'd have to wear those awful outfits, and I'd hate that. Anyway, look at this." Caroline whipped out her phone and turned it toward Tyler. "Gorgeous, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to see that." Tyler said, realizing that it was a picture of Bonnie in a wedding dress that he assumed was the one she'd chosen. "I like it."

"I do too. I love it. If Matt hadn't—If I'd ever gotten married, I would have wanted a dress exactly like this."

Tyler placed his hand on Caroline's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"I know, but it's just so hard sometimes. It's just like it happened yesterday. It feels that way sometimes."

"It doesn't help that the anniversary of his death is next week." Tyler said, sadly. "Do you want a drink?" Caroline nodded and Tyler got up to get the alcohol.

"I've never understood why people say it's an 'anniversary'—I mean, anniversaries are supposed to be happy days. Losing Matt wasn't a happy day."

"I know," Tyler said bringing back two classes and handing one to Caroline. "I know."

"You're the only one who does. I wish—It hurts, Ty." Caroline said, taking the glass and just staring at the swirly honey-ish color.

"What do you wish?"

Caroline took a drink, "I wish I could have saved him. It was my fault, Ty. If I had been faster, if I had been with him that night. If I just—"

"It wasn't your fault," Tyler said firmly. "It is not your fault."

"It doesn't feel that way."

Tyler was surprised to see a tear escape Caroline's eye. He felt himself losing control, as if he'd start crying himself any moment. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's, it's mine."

"You weren't even there, Ty."

"Yeah, I was." Tyler said, surprising himself with the truth. He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't told anyone other than his uncle that he'd been there that night.

Crap, crap, _crap_.

"You lied." Caroline said simply. She turned to stare at him. "What do you know?"

"I—" Tyler couldn't tell her. "I can't."

"Tell me, Tyler. What do you know?" Caroline had stopped crying, now she was curious, and bit angry that Tyler hadn't told her that he had known something about Matt's death that she hadn't, and that he hadn't _told _her.

Tyler looked down at his drink, deciding that it had probably been a bad idea to drink so much earlier in the day. "It was my fault that he died."

"You weren't there." Caroline got up angrily. "Stop saying that it's your fault. You make it seem like—"

"Like I'm the reason he died." Tyler stood up, facing her. "I—"

"Tell me that you had nothing to do with it." Caroline begged him, tears falling freely. "What happened that night?"

Tyler hated seeing her so upset, and was afraid that his next words would make it so that every look she sent his way in the future was full of hatred. "Do you know how someone becomes a werewolf?"

Caroline looked confused. "Isn't it just genetic?"

"Yes, well, not quite. The curse is carried through our blood, but you have to do something to trigger it."

"What?" Caroline demanded.

"You have to kill someone."

"But-Mason-I thought he-" Caroline had never said that she'd believed that Tyler's uncle was responsible for Matt's death, but she'd always somewhat believed it.

"He was the one who mangled the body, but Caroline," Tyler took a moment to brace himself for her rage. "I'm the one who killed Matt that night."

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Okay, so I know this is slightly evil, but the good news is that another update should be up tomorrow. Please give Tyler a chance to explain himself :)


	5. Chapter 5

I disclaim! Chapter five.

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The words swirled around in Caroline's head for a moment. "No."

"I'm so sorry, Caroline." Tyler said, crying. He dropped back down beside the couch, burying his head in his hands.

Caroline felt her heart sink. She fell to the floor where she was standing, mere feet away from Tyler, in front of the couch they'd both been sitting on minutes earlier.

Caroline's mind latched onto that—things had been so normal. Now, things were different, forever changed, almost as much as they had been when she'd first discovered what had happened to Matt—when she'd held his head in her arms, weeping over his body. She would have changed him, but he'd been destroyed, torn apart limb from limb.

Her heart was splintering as she lifted her head and looked at Tyler. "Why?"

Tyler tried to regain some sort of control. "It just happened. I was drunk, he was drunk, it was an accident. I didn't mean—it just . . . happened."

"You said that already," Caroline said—without emotion. "Tell me exactly what happened," she said firmly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Two years ago_

_Matt and Tyler were drunk. Like, seriously drunk—fail a sobriety test, trip over your own feet, terrible hangover the next day _drunk_._

_Originally, Tyler wasn't supposed to have been there. Matt had had a random fight with Caroline so he'd headed out to the woods to do some thinking. He'd run out of alcohol though, so he'd texted Tyler inviting him to come—and bring more booze, of course._

_They'd sat there, just the two of them. They'd been on the rocks near a small stream, giggling—though they would have insisted it was laughing, because giggling wasn't manly enough(but it was indeed what they were doing)—when they'd started talking about women._

_"I don't know what's wrong with her. She used to be so reasonable about things." Matt said._

_"Dude, it's Caroline. When has she ever been reasonable about anything?" Tyler laughed. "She's one crazy chick."_

_"Yeah. But I love her."_

_"I know. She's pretty lovable. She may be crazy, but she's efficient, and energetic. She's so happy and vibrant, and funny. Most people don't think she is, but she's funny." Tyler smiled as he spoke.  
_

_"I know." Matt looked at his best friend as if he'd never seen him before. "Are you serious?"_

_"What?" Tyler took another drink and turned his head to have it pummeled by his best friend's fist._

_"What the hell, Matt?" Tyler said, getting angry. He was lying on the ground with Matt looking down at him._

_"How long have you been in love with her?"_

_Tyler went stonefaced. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not in love with Caroline."_

_"It's all over your face. I can't believe I never saw it."_

_"You never saw it because you're imagining it. It's not real. You've just had too much to drink." Tyler started to lift himself off the ground when Matt pushed him back down._

_"Dude, chill." Tyler said, a little afraid of Matt's intensity. "You're hurting me."_

_Matt's hands slipped to Tyler's neck, he started to choke him. "You're hurting me."_

_"I can't believe this."  
_

_"I can't—breathe."_

_"Stay away from her."_

_"I will! Just—let go."_

_Matt didn't let go. Tyler felt himself beginning to slip into darkness as he grabbed for a nearby bottle they'd emptied earlier that night. He reached for it, but he couldn't quite . . . grasp it. He extended his arm a little further, grabbing the bottle and smashing it over Matt's head._

_Matt's body crumpled on top of Tyler's, and Tyler passed out._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"When I came to, he was dead, and my uncle Mason was there. He just stared down at me. Not quite with disappointment, but with resignation. He'd known something like this would happen, that I wouldn't be able to help myself. That something like that would happen." Tyler said sadly.

Caroline shook her head. "No, Matt wouldn't hurt you."

"Not normally, but he was so upset, and drunk. And he thought I was in love with you—it sent him into a jealous rage."

"You're not though—I mean, you weren't."

"Caroline, I—" The look on his face worried her, so Caroline put a hand up.

"Please don't answer that right now. I can't."

"I'm so sorry."

Caroline leaned against the couch. "What happens next?"

Tyler cleared his throat. "You decide."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bonnie wasn't sure why Tyler wasn't answering her phone calls, but she wasn't sure she cared at the moment. She was wearing her wedding dress, staring at herself in the mirror. "So wrong."

"What's wrong?" Stefan stood in the doorway. She'd come home with Elena, and she wasn't ready to leave quite yet.

"Everything." Bonnie replied as she turned around, surprising herself with her honesty.

Stefan smiled. "I'm sure not _everything_. After all, at least you have a beautiful dress."

Bonnie smiled back—a half-smile that wasn't sincere in the least bit.

"What's going on, Bonnie?"

"Oh, nothing. Tyler just isn't answering his phone." Bonnie wasn't going to be honest with him, however much she desperately needed to talk to someone who would actually listen to what she was saying. And, no matter what beef she'd ever had with Stefan, he'd always tried to be a good friend to her, and he was a good listener.

She swore sometimes that if Elena hadn't snapped him up first, she would have. He was really quite wonderful—but she knew he wasn't for her.

Honestly, sometimes she really didn't know who _was_ for her anymore.

"I'm sure he's fine."

"I know, but I worry."

"Caroline is with him, so you know he'll be fine."

"Maybe _she _should marry him then." Bonnie said, starting to fiddle with the zipper on her dress.

"Bonnie—"

"I know, I know. I'm just lashing out. Can you help me get out of this dress?"

"Sure." Stefan stepped forward and unzipped it. He turned around after he was done. "I'm not looking, but I do want to talk to you about something."

"Damon." Bonnie sighed.

"Yes, Damon. I've been helping him, and I'm sorry if it's hurting you, or making life difficult."

Bonnie slipped her flowery dress she'd worn to go dress-hunting over her head, frankly too tired to unzip it and pull it up. "I knew you were helping him. I did. And it's just . . . complicating things."

"Have you tried just telling him to stop?"

Bonnie snorted. "Of course I have. It doesn't work. It doesn't even affect him in the least. He just goes along and reorders our food to annoy us, he stands outside our window commenting as we try to . . . you know. He just doesn't care."

Stefan sighed. "Is it safe to turn around?"

"Go ahead." Bonnie planted herself down on a chair.

"I think the problem is that he cares too much."

Bonnie looked down at her hands. "I wish he'd stop."

"Do you really?"

"I love Tyler."

"You also love Damon."

"No I don't. Where would you—why? No. I don't love him."

Stefan smiled. "Bonnie, you fell in love with him years ago. You just never told anyone."

Bonnie debated between lying and being honest. She decided, "How long have you known?"

"Longer than you have."

"I need to make it stop."

"But you can't. Love doesn't work that way."

"I love them both, Stefan. But I can't. Damon is just—you know how he is. There can never be anything between us. I'm marrying _Tyler_."

"You don't have to," Stefan answered, simply.

"He's _Damon_. He's flirtatious and unstable, and more than a little clinically insane. And, no offense, he's a vampire."

"None taken."

"He drives me insane, he makes me angry. And he's a really good kisser—"

Stefan winced. "I didn't need to know that."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Bonnie, maybe you should tell him how you feel."

"I can't." Bonnie jumped up and walked over to Stefan. "And if you tell him I will magically castrate you in the worst way possible and I will have a really pissed off best friend."

Stefan had the decency not to laugh-he winced again instead. "If that's what you want." He made a move to leave, leaving her standing in the middle of the room by herself. He turned around at the doorway, "But if it's not what you want, you should figure out what is. Like that dress—sure it's a beautiful dress, but is it the right one?" He turned and left her alone with her thoughts.

"Damn it, Stefan." Bonnie murmured to herself. He had a point. She couldn't stay in denial any longer, she couldn't pretend that she was okay.

She needed to figure out what she really wanted—because no one else could tell her that. She had to—in a fairly clichéd sort of way—listen to her heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Damon was tired of playing games with Bonnie. At first, it had been amusing. Then, it had been necessary—because he . . . he still didn't know.

He knew it hurt to see her with Tyler. He knew that when he looked at Elena, he just saw Elena, his brother's girlfriend. He knew that when he looked into Bonnie's eyes, he wanted to drown in them.

He would have done so happily.

But he didn't know how he felt exactly. He was afraid to name it, because he was afraid that he either wouldn't like the answer, or it wouldn't matter, because Bonnie didn't feel the same way.

He was musing about that when he heard a knock at the door. He walked over and opened it, his jaw nearly dropping when he realized that Bonnie was standing on the stoop. He lived alone. She was there for him.

She was there for him. Probably to tell him off. "Hello tasty Bon Bon, how are you on this fine evening?" He asked.

Bonnie lifted a single eyebrow. "Really?"

"I was trying to be polite. Come on in." He motioned her in, shutting the door behind her.

"I need to talk to you."

"That makes sense, as you _are _here. Unless you came to get some nookie, which I doubt, I'd imagine you're here to talk."

"Can you just be serious for a moment?"

Damon's smirk disappeared. "What's wrong, Bonnie? Did were-boy do something? I can kill him, you know."

"He didn't do anything, Damon. This is about me and you."

Damon looked down into Bonnie's eyes. Drowning. "What's going on?"

Bonnie pulled back from him, nervous at the intense way he was looking into her eyes. "I—" She started to pace.

"Bonnie, I—"

"I need to say something to you." She held up a hand, indicating that he should wait until she finished. "I have feelings for you."

"Oh."

"In fact, I thought I was in love with you for a pretty damn long time."

"I didn't know." Damon said simply, not knowing what else to say.

"I know, no one did. Except, apparently, Stefan. Look, Damon—I'm about to get married in a couple of moments to a really great guy—" Damon didn't snort or laugh, or smirk at that like she'd thought he would—"And for some reason I can't stop thinking about you."

"That wasn't what I thought you were going to say."

"Well, it is. And I need to know, Damon, how you feel about me."

"I—"

"Are you in love with me, or is this all just some game to you?"

"It's not a game."

Bonnie sighed. "Then what is it?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

Bonnie closed her eyes, let herself hurt for a moment, then sealed her heart back up. "If you can't say the words, then it doesn't matter." She turned on her heel and started to walk away.

"Bonnie—" Damon called out.

She turned around, hope in her eyes. "Damon?"

"I—"

Bonnie walked back to Damon, placing her hand on his cheek. She leaned up and kissed him on the lips softly. "Damon, no matter what you do, I'm going to marry Tyler. Don't bother anymore. It's over."

She walked away, her heart shattering into billions of pieces. She took a moment to steel herself. She pushed every thought of Damon out of her mind. It was over.

She looked down at a text message. Caroline.

As she left, he watched.

He hadn't known before, and he didn't know now.

If he had known better he would have known, right then. He would have known that what he felt was his heart breaking.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And here we go. Review?


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you all so much for all of the favoriting and reviews! I appreciate all of them, I really do—and it definitely helps me continue writing. Anyway, enjoy! I'm beginning to think I should have entitled this story "Everyone is in Denial," or something.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bonnie knocked, realized how ridiculous it was to knock on the door of her fiancé's house, and simply opened the door.

She walked in, "Caroline? Tyler?"

Bonnie watched as Caroline stood up from in front of the couch, Tyler following her. They looked upset. She could see the tear marks on both their faces.

Oh no.

"What happened to you two? Are you okay?"

Caroline wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. "No, not really. Tyler, um, has something to say to you."

Bonnie looked between Tyler and Caroline. "What's going on? You two aren't—"

"No, no! Of course not." Caroline assured her. "If only it were that simple."

"Caroline, I think you should leave." Tyler said, his eyes focused on Bonnie's face.

Caroline looked at him in shock. "Are you serious?" She looked at him like she wanted to hurt him. Thus began a minor staring contest. Bonnie would have laughed if she hadn't been so nervous. If she were a betting woman her money would have been on Caroline.

Since Tyler backed down first, Bonnie was a little disappointed that she _wasn't_ a betting woman. "Fine. Go upstairs and wait in one of the guest bedrooms."

Caroline looked at Bonnie who nodded. "Okay." She looked at Tyler and felt the tears coming again. She turned and walked towards Bonnie. She wrapped her arms around her, and whispered in her ear, "No matter what happens, you have me. Remember that." Caroline pulled away from an increasingly anxious Bonnie and started to make her way up the staircase to the bedrooms.

"What the hell, Tyler?" Bonnie turned to Tyler after Caroline disappeared.

Tyler buried his hands in his hair as if he wanted to pull it all out. "I wasn't going to tell you, Bonnie."

"What weren't you going to tell me? I don't understand. No secrets, remember?" Bonnie was beginning to feel a cold dread build within her.

"I know. But this is so much bigger than anything I think you had in mind."

"What's going on?"

"I think you should sit down."

XXXXXXXXXX

Bonnie was glad Tyler had told her to sit down, because she would have fallen to the ground if she hadn't been held up by the chair she'd sat in.

As Tyler spoke she felt her heart plummet. When he mentioned that Matt had thought he was in love with Caroline, she felt numb. When he told her how Matt died, she felt her heart break for Caroline.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I couldn't. I couldn't tell anyone. But then Caroline came over and I just—it's been two years. There's only so long I could keep this secret."

Bonnie sat quietly, reflecting. "Are you okay?" she asked finally.

"Not really, but I've been dealing with this secret for a while now. I—"

"Are you going to tell anyone else?" Bonnie asked bluntly.

"Caroline asked me not to."

Bonnie didn't know what to say. "I know this is probably the wrong thing to ask, but was Matt right? Should I be calling to cancel the wedding? Are you—are you in love with Caroline?"

Tyler looked in the eyes, and placed his hands on her cheeks. "I'm marrying you, Bonnie. I love you."

Bonnie felt partially relieved, but she fully realized that he hadn't quite answered her question. He loved her, and she loved him. But while she was desperately trying to squash and destroy her feelings for Damon, maybe he was trying to do the same with Caroline.

As Tyler leaned into kiss her she wondered if that could possibly be enough. She briefly considered pulling away—realizing that this moment was an important moment, that she had a choice to make.

She chose. Tyler kissed her, and she kissed him back.

He pulled away first. "I understand if this is too much, if you don't want to marry me. I'm a werewolf and a murderer. And if we have children . . . Well, I wouldn't want to marry me either," he laughed humorlessly.

Bonnie took his hands in hers and looked in his eyes. "Tyler, it was an accident, and as much as you've completely screwed up in regards to this . . . secret, I can't judge you. For better or for worse. We may not have said the words yet, but we will. I'm marrying you not because you're perfect, but because we can be happy. And I love you." She did.

Tyler buried his head in her neck, beginning to cry. "Thank you for not leaving me."

"We're making vows," she replied simply.

XXXXXXXXXX

Caroline was on the bed, her head buried in the pillows, sobbing her heart out.

It hurt.

It hurt too damn much.

She'd thought it had hurt too much to keep 'living' after she'd lost Matt. She'd loved him so much.

Well—maybe she was leaving out an incredibly fact, even though she was only thinking about it and hadn't told _anyone_. She couldn't even be honest with herself, how sad was that?

It was time for a reality check—she was a liar.

Sure, she had loved Matt—but the reason he'd been out there drinking with Tyler was because she'd picked yet another fight with him. She liked to remember her relationship with Matt as being perfect—but it hadn't been, not by a long shot.

One day she'd woken up and realized that nothing had been as it seemed.

One day, she'd started to have feelings for Tyler. She hadn't been in love with him, by any stretch, but she'd started to . . . wonder. And from there she'd just gotten so angry at herself and Tyler that she'd started to complain about how much time Matt spent with Tyler.

She'd been bitchy and unfair. She'd said that maybe he should just date Tyler if they were going to spend so much time together, she'd said that she was done feeling like a third wheel.

The worst part was, all of those thoughts had come from a real place. She'd felt that way all of the time, as if somehow she wasn't important enough. That maybe she just wasn't enough. And having feelings for her boyfriend's best friend? That just made her feel like the horrible person people sometimes liked to say she was.

She wasn't a horrible person, but sometimes she was damned unlucky.

When she'd realized that Matt had died—and after the hideous argument they'd had earlier that day—she'd felt guilty. She'd looked at Tyler, feeling completely guilty. She, of course, hadn't known he'd been there, that he was . . . she couldn't even think about it.

Caroline had set Bonnie up with Tyler not because she thought they were destined to be together, or because she thought they loved each other, she'd set them up out of guilt. She couldn't have Tyler, and she couldn't have Matt, and she therefore believed that she deserved to be alone.

She still believed that she deserved to be alone, but now she let herself wallow in the pain of watching Tyler and Bonnie get married as she remembered that Matt should have been there. It was worse now because she worried that maybe she'd made a mistake—because if Tyler broke Bonnie's heart, it was her fault.

That was why she tried so desperately to keep Damon away from Bonnie, and make sure that the wedding got organized—because she _needed _it to happen. She needed them to have a happily ever after so that maybe one day she might feel as if she had the right to be happy again.

Caroline heard Bonnie coming and was afraid of what she had to say. "Bonnie."

"Caroline, hey." Bonnie sat down on the bed next to Caroline, placing her hand on Caroline's back. "I don't want to ask you that clichéd question 'Are you okay?' because I'm pretty sure you're not okay. But in terms of how terrible you could feel, well, are you okay?"

Caroline sat up. "I think-I think I need to be honest with you."

Bonnie took her friends hands in hers. "Caroline, you can tell me anything, you know that."

Hearing the sincerity in Bonnie's voice, Caroline hesitated. "Why don't you talk first?"

"Tyler told me the truth." Bonnie said, sighing. She still couldn't quite believe it.

"Are you guys . . . okay?"

Bonnie forced a smile, "We're fine, Caroline. We're still getting married in a few months."

"Good." Caroline hadn't ruined everything, and Tyler and Bonnie were still getting married.

"Yeah, so, um, what were you going to say?"

Caroline sighed. "Just that I don't know if I can do this anymore. Being around Tyler is going to be really hard for me."

"I understand. We can find another person to stand up for us. Take care of yourself, Caroline."

For a brief moment Caroline wanted to take Bonnie up on her offer, but then she realized that she needed Bonnie. And she needed to make sure that Bonnie and Tyler's wedding went off without a hitch.

Caroline steeled herself and breathed deeply. "No, I can do this. It was an accident, a horrible, tragic, unfair accident. I made a promise to you two, and I'm going to stand up for you guys. You're still my best friends. He-well, things aren't the same anymore, but I can try to work through this."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked, concerned at how well Caroline was taking everything in. "I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with Tyler. He killed the man you loved." Bonnie winced when she realized how insensitive that must have sounded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

Caroline felt tears building at the corners of her eyes. "Bonnie, I-"

Bonnie took Caroline in her arms. "It's okay, Caroline. It's going to be okay. You said you'll always be there for me, but don't forget that you'll always have me too."

"Thank you," Caroline said, her voice partially muffled because her face was buried in the side of Bonnie's neck. "I love you Bonnie."

"I love you too, Caroline."

XXXXXXXXXX

_A month later_

"I'm going to be okay." Caroline said to Bonnie.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Elena asked, walking into her kitchen at that moment.

"No reason," Caroline and Bonnie chimed in unison. They shared a look-after their talk they'd decided that nothing would change. No one else would find out about what had happened. Luckily, Mason was out of town so when Tyler told him that he'd told Caroline and Bonnie there was nothing he could do but be angry from hundreds of miles away and make empty threats.

"You two have been remarkably friendly lately. No arguments. It's weird because the wedding just keeps getting closer and closer . . . and you're not getting nervous." Elena said, quite nervous herself at the fact that they weren't worried or stressed and that Caroline-the Queen of Organizational Stress-was fine.

Bonnie turned to Elena, "It's going to happen, and it's going to be just fine. We're fine, Elena. I swear, I think you're worrying about this wedding more than I am."

"She is," Caroline said, laughing. Bonnie and Caroline met eyes and Bonnie started laughing too.

"So, Bonnie, have you finally fallen in love with your wedding dress?" Elena asked, changing the subject somewhat because she was feeling a little left out.

Bonnie stopped laughing. "It's a beautiful dress," she said simply.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Honestly, I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter for some reason. Hmm. Anyways. Up next: Damon/Stefan bonding, lots of reflection and maybe a little sad Bamon. After that we get really, really close to the wedding and we get bachelor/bachelorette party drunkenness. I'm excited, are you? :)


	7. Chapter 7

Hello! Chapter 7-which I rewrote like three times, but then I finally figured out what was wrong. And here it is! I disclaim, because obviously I don't own anything TVD-related, because if I did . . . well, things would be different. *cough*Bamon*cough. Anyways, much thanks for all reviews!

XXXXXXX

Damon hadn't known at first that his heart was breaking.

But then suddenly, _finally_, he knew.

Damon was in love with Bonnie—and he knew it.

He hadn't been able to say it, but not because he was afraid. It _definitely _wasn't because he was afraid of commitment. After all, he'd been in love with Katherine for so long . . . and then he'd ridiculously tried to transfer that love to Elena. But Elena was not Katherine, and she was Stefan's. That, however, was irrelevant because he was not in love with Elena or with some memory of Katherine.

Damon Salvatore was in love with Bonnie Bennett—and there was nothing he could do about it.

He honestly didn't even know how long he'd been in love with Bonnie—but he knew now that he had for a lot longer than he'd even thought possible. When she'd stood there, looking into his eyes, he's wanted to say something. When she asked him if he loved her, he instantaneously knew the answer. When Stefan had said it he'd simply brushed it off-preferring not to think about it. But Bonnie had been right there, standing in front of him asking him whether he loved her and the answer had come to him in flash and he felt like he'd always known it.

_Yes_.

Yes, he was in love with the crazy witch who had once hated him more than she'd hated almost anyone else.

There was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Sure, he could continue on with his childish and silly attempts to annoy them and ruin their wedding but he'd finally realized that that wouldn't solve anything. There would always be another date, another day to have the wedding, and he couldn't break them up.

The only way to break them up would have been to tell her. And he wouldn't-_-couldn't_ do that.

You see, in that same moment that he knew he loved her, he also knew he wasn't good enough for her-that she deserved better than some dark and twisty vampire who'd tried to kill her in the not-so-distant past.

Damon Salvatore didn't deserve Bonnie Bennett. And that was why, no matter how much it hurt him to do it, he would stand by and let Bonnie marry Tyler. She had stuck by him so far-she obviously wanted him.

Bonnie deserved someone better than Damon. Even if 'better' meant Tyler Lockwood.

XXXX

"Stop moping." Stefan said as he walked into the dark room Damon was sitting in.

"I'm not moping."

"You're moping." He was.

"Fine. How would you feel if Elena were getting married to someone else and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it?" Damon asked meanly.

Stefan sighed and sat down on the couch across from Damon. "Point taken. But it's not really the same, is it?" Stefan asked, testing Damon.

"It is."

Stefan almost smiled. So apparently Damon had realized how he felt, but if he didn't do anything about it . . . well, it was almost worse knowing.

"Why isn't there anything you can do about it, Damon?"

"She's marrying Tyler, and nothing I've done has stopped that."

Stefan sighed. "You haven't done the one thing that would stop her, have you?" Stefan knew his brother, and he knew Bonnie, so he easily grasped onto the truth.

"I can't." Damon said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because I love her."

Stefan wanted to sigh again, but he didn't. Somehow, that made sense to him.

"I know."

Damon got up quickly and started to pace. "I need to leave. Maybe Europe would be fun."

Stefan closed his eyes and thought carefully-Damon was on the precipice of making the worst decision he'd ever made.

"I think you underestimate Bonnie. Doesn't she deserve to make her own decisions about who she loves and who she wants to be with?"

"Not like this. She'd leave me eventually anyway. There's a darkness inside of me that no woman will ever understand or be able to love." Damon sighed, then saw the look on Stefan's face. "Don't look at me like that!" He snarled it. "Don't give me those pitying looks. Don't look at me like you do a sad dying puppy. Say something."

"You're wrong," Stefan said simply.

Damon waited for a moment, as if he expected Stefan to say something more. In a rage Damon picked up a glass on a nearby table and threw it at Stefan's head. Stefan ducked and the glass shattered against the wall behind him."Is that all you have to say Stefan? You love to get preachy, I can't believe you'd pass on the opportunity to berate me for my choices."

"Damon, I don't want to tear you down. I just want you to be happy."

Damon laughed humorlessly. "You really missed the boat on that, I haven't been happy in years."

"That's a lie, because I'm seen your face when you look at her. She makes you happy."

Damon was glad for the darkness. He turned away from his brother and started to pace again. "I can't make her happy."

"Damon-"

"No, Stefan. I can't. I would make her miserable. She can't love me."

"She already does."

Damon dropped back down into a chair. "I-"

"Damon, listen to me carefully for a moment," Stefan slipped closer to his brother. "If you decide to let her get married, then you have to let her go."

"How are those two things different, exactly?" Damon asked bitterly. "They sound like the same damn thing."

"Letting someone love someone else is not the same as not loving them yourself."

Stefan sighed-he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately-and continued. "If you don't, you'll start to hate her. And then you'll start to hate yourself."

"I could never hate Bonnie."

"You hated Katherine."

"Bonnie isn't Katherine," Damon snarled.

"Exactly, so stop treating her like she is. How is it that you carried a flame for Katherine for so long, but you can't even give Bonnie a single chance to love you?"

"I learned my lesson," Damon stood up and strode from the room. He stopped at the doorway and turned back for a moment, "I can exist without her, and there's no way she could live with me." Then he left.

Stefan wished there were something he could do-because this would not end well for anyone involved. If Bonnie were going to continue on with this charade, and Damon wouldn't do anything to stop it, maybe it was his job to stop this _nonsense _from continuing.

Stefan rarely had the opportunity to see his brother be selfless. This was one of those rare times. No matter what Damon said, Stefan knew that the reason that Damon was letting Bonnie marry Tyler was because he loved her too much.

That, in and of itself, was proof enough to Stefan that Damon needed Bonnie.

XXXX

Bonnie was content.

It was a strange sort of calm-like she'd somehow found her way to the eye of the storm and was just sitting calmly as everything seemed to go to hell around her. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but that was no matter.

Bonnie felt at peace.

She loved Damon-she'd spent so long trying to pretend that she didn't, then she'd given him the opportunity to, well, she'd given him a chance. And he'd blown it. He didn't love her-and even if he did it didn't matter so long as he couldn't say it.

It was too late. Tyler could tell her every day that he loved her-and he did. He would make her happy.

She loved Tyler-and if she had to remind herself every day until her heart remembered that, she would.

Damon was a ridiculous fantasy.

Tyler was here. Now.

And he needed her-it might have seemed strange to others had they known that she was marrying Tyler even though he'd killed his best friend, but it actually made perfect sense. Tyler had made a mistake-it had been an accident. And he needed her to support him, to remind him of that. He was hurting, and she could help him.

Damon was a lost cause.

Tyler needed her-and she needed him to need her. Bonnie liked to think of herself as a fairly independent woman/witch-and she was. But everyone, she believed, deserved to be needed.

It was nice to have a place in the world. Bonnie had spent a lot of time drifting-trying to find her place in the world. Now it was easy. She belonged with Tyler, and he belonged with her. And everything made sense and she didn't have to worry that he'd leave her. He wouldn't.

Tyler Lockwood and Bonnie Bennett would, once married, never separate. They would take their vows seriously-for better and for worse, in unhappiness and joy.

Maybe Damon could make her happier-but he _wouldn't. _He couldn't let himself be happy, and she couldn't be with someone who would make her life miserable.

She was making the safe choice, and sometimes the safe choice wasn't bad. Sure, three quarters of the romantic notions of society seemed to indicate that the little bit of happiness was worth the horrific amounts of misery-but Bonnie disagreed. Happiness was an everyday sort of thing-waking up in bed with the same person every day and knowing that he wouldn't leave her, that they would have children who would never have to worry about their parents divorcing. That she could expect that every day would not be a mystery-but merely the recognition of what was-not what could have been, or what "should" be.

Bonnie Bennett-soon to be Lockwood-did not want to live in the past, or in some dreamlike state wishing and hoping for the impossible-she wanted to move forward into a bright, happy, full future.

XXXX

Bonnie was in the exact place that Damon had kissed her. She was saying goodbye.

She didn't expect, however, that Damon would appear-to do the same thing, actually, though she didn't know it.

"Damon?" She said tentatively. "What are you doing here?"

Damon smiled a half-smile, "Same thing you are, I'd imagine. Enjoying the scenery."

Bonnie smiled a wistful, sad smile. "Yeah, the scenery. It's lovely." It was a beautiful night, the stars were twinkling brightly against the dark backdrop of the sky. Maybe it was the things left unsaid, but Bonnie felt like the stars were brighter than she'd ever seen them-as if they were sparkling in some sort of solidarity. The stars were on her side, she thought. It made her smile.

"It's even more beautiful from where I'm standing, you know." He was staring at her.

She blushed, but didn't feel uncomfortable for some reason. "If you say so."

This was closure, for the both of them, Bonnie realized.

"Bonnie?" Damon said, cutting into her reverie.

"Yes?"

"Try to be happy." Bonnie was about to comment on the kindness of that statement when Damon opened his mouth again, "Try not to screw things up."

He couldn't let them end on a happy, sweet note, could he? Bonnie felt almost angry, but then realized that that was never what her quasi-friendship with Damon had ever been about. It had always been about them testing each other, about pushing each other to the limits and beyond, about the verbal sparring and the intensity.

It was never about sweetness-despite the fact that it was always there.

A few years before-before everything with Matt, before she'd started dating Tyler-she'd gotten really sick. Like, disgusting as hell, zombie-witch status. For some reason he'd appeared, claiming that Elena had sent him to take care of her because she couldn't make it herself.

Bonnie had never questioned that moment. She had never mentioned it to Elena-because she was sure he'd lied. Elena would not ask Damon to take care of Bonnie-even though he certainly would have done so if she had indeed asked.

He'd nursed her back to full health. It had been one of the strangest moments of her life. It was the moment that took her from a mild crush on Damon to realizing that she loved him-though she'd quickly gone into denial until recent events had shaken her.

So yes, Damon was sweet. But that wasn't all he was, and he'd just reminded her of that. It made it harder instead of easier to remember the bad as well as the good, surprisingly.

"I'll try not to," Bonnie replied, finally.

Damon smiled at her, a sincere sort of smile-one rather seen on his face. "Good." And he'd disappeared.

Bonnie would be irrevocably in love with Damon-possibly until the day she died.

And maybe she would be okay with that.

XXXX

Stefan Salvatore had a plan. Bonnie Bennett and Tyler Lockwood would not be getting married if his plan succeeded.

It was funny-almost.

The reverse in roles-Damon being the one who was sacrificing what he loved in order to "do the right thing" and Stefan being manipulative and calculative-was fascinating.

In the end, of course, it only proved how much they were alike.

And truly, regardless of what anyone else might have thought-especially Elena whom he had not informed of his little plan-Stefan was doing what was in _everyone's_ best interest.

Obviously, if he left everyone to their own resources, they'd destroy themselves.

XXXXXXX

Good news: Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Or, maybe it's bad news, I don't know.


	8. Chapter 8

I disclaim! I'm so close to finishing this story-it's both happy and sad to realize that. I think this is one of my favorite fics that I've written so far in my fic-writing experience. Minus my slutty punctuation fic . . . but that's another sort of crazy altogether. I hope you all are still enjoying the story so far :)

XXXXXXX

Stefan did his research. He was generally not impulsive—he was a planner.

He also knew quite well that he couldn't show his hand until after he'd played it. So he had one opportunity to get everyone to open their eyes and stop feeding into such deep, deep denial.

They needed to snap out of it—it truly was ridiculous.

Two days before the wedding Bonnie and Tyler had their bachelor/bachelorette parties—and Stefan decided to take advantage of the fact that those sorts of events often involved lots of drinking, and might loosen up people to the point that they'd just . . . drop drowning in the River of Denial.

XXXX

"Everything is perfect, Caroline. Everything will go off without a hitch and we'll all be fine."

"You say that, but if the wedding cake isn't properly refrigerated and ends up melting before the reception, or the flowers wilt, or I lose the rings—which I won't, of course—you will regret not giving me a few more minutes to make sure that everything really is perfect."

Bonnie grabbed Caroline's phone. "Stop. I'm getting married in two days. Let's just go enjoy my party."

Caroline open her mouth to protest but Bonnie held up a hand. "Stop. No. We're going to have fun."

"But—"

"No buts."

Bonnie grabbed Caroline's arm and dragged her into the room with the guests. "The last few months have been really tough. It's time to have some fun. _Fun_, Caroline. Remember what that is?" Bonnie grabbed a glass of champagne and handed it to her friend. "Have at it."

XXXX

Tyler didn't want a bachelor party. He wasn't in the mood—but then Stefan had come to visit him a few days prior and he felt like he didn't have a choice. Stefan had quite efficiently herded and shoehorned until Tyler was sitting in a private room—with Tiki dancers and guys he really didn't know well at all.

There were guys he worked with, guys from high school who he barely remembered and some random guys he'd known during college. And Stefan was there, awkwardly enough-but it wasn't like Tyler could kick him out considering that he was the only reason that there was a party.

Tyler really didn't want to be where he was, so he was doing the next best thing and doing what he wanted to do. He was, of course, drinking obscene amounts of alcohol.

Stefan chose to sidle up next to Tyler at a very, very drunken moment. "How's it going?"

Tyler turned slowly from the bar towards Stefan, "It's very . . . lubricated."

"You mean you're drunk as hell." Stefan laughed.

"Basically." Tyler laughed in return.

"Nervous for the wedding?" Stefan asked casually, he didn't want to make Tyler nervous.

Tyler was too far gone to care. "No, I'm not. It's possibly the least nerve-wracking thing in my life right now. Bonnie is just so amazing. She forgave me—I mean, she accepts me for who I am. And she's even gotten Caroline to do so too."

Stefan lifted an eyebrow. Interesting. Tyler didn't know what he was saying, so he'd said a lot more than he'd expected.

"What? For being a werewolf?" Stefan asked.

Tyler laughed and took another gulp of his drink. "For being me. For who I am and what I've done. It shocks me."

"Is it so difficult to believe that they'd care about you?"

Tyler sat quietly. "Yeah." He drooped in his chair. He'd passed out.

Stefan got up quickly and stopped him from falling on the ground. "Interesting." He carried him home and dropped him on his bed. Stefan was thankful that he'd managed an invite years ago that allowed him access into the Lockwood estate.

He sat on the edge of the bed next to Tyler's sleeping body. "What is it that you're hiding, Tyler?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't get a response. There was something Tyler was keeping secret—though apparently Bonnie and Caroline already knew. Maybe it was a weakness that he could exploit.

"Caroline." Tyler rasped in his sleep. "Please don't hate me."

Stefan raised an eyebrow. Why would Caroline hate Tyler?

"I need you." Tyler mumbled.

Stefan realized in that moment that Tyler was in love with Caroline. Sure, he hadn't said that he loved her-but there was something in the way Tyler said Caroline's name that reminded him of the glances he'd seen him throw at her over the years. He wasn't quite sure if Tyler knew that he loved Caroline(at at the very least had feelings for her)—and he was fairly sure that Bonnie didn't know.

It didn't really matter though, because Stefan now had what he needed.

Stefan now had a plan.

XXXX

Caroline felt free.

She was having fun—they'd played silly party games and indulged in horrendous amounts of chocolate and alcohol—and she was happy.

She hadn't forgotten her troubles, she hadn't forgotten anything. She also hadn't let it go—but she was beginning to realize thanks to her best friend that there was more to life than death and heartbreak.

There were friends and family—and hers were one and the same.

She loved them—until they suggested truth or dare.

She'd laughed at first thinking that it was some lame joke. It wasn't. Her smile had disappeared. "Please no."

The other less-friendly of Bonnie's friends had already left, and now it was just the three of them: Elena, Caroline and Bonnie.

"Please no." Caroline had repeated when her friends had just continued to smile at her.

Bonnie and Elena had exchanged a glance and Caroline had known she was trapped. She wasn't getting out of this. "I think I should go check . . . something for the wedding."

"I don't think so." Bonnie had linked her arm through Caroline's and Elena had done the same on the other side. They herded her to where they'd set up a comfy little spot.

"Fine." Caroline said. Maybe this would be fun.

"I've been working on a truth spell I'd like to try out."

Caroline and Elena both looked stunned. Crap.

They all sat down and got comfy with their pillows and necessities.

This was not going to be fun.

XXXX

As it turned out it _was _fun.

"I dare you to call out for Damon tonight instead of Stefan." Caroline smirked.

Elena had returned with, "I hope you enjoy french kissing Damon, Caroline."

Bonnie had sat there awkwardly at that. "Eew." She said eew, but she didn't mean it.

"He's actually a good kisser—he's just a jerk." Caroline sighed.

Elena had looked carefully at the look on Bonnie's face before saying, "He's not that much of a jerk, he's really not as bad as you make him out to be."

Bonnie spoke, "Maybe you should avoid espousing the virtues of your boyfriend's brother. He might get jealous."

Elena smiled a soft, genuinely happy smile. "Stefan knows I love him—there's no reason to be jealous."

Bonnie grabbed an unopened bottle of vodka. If she were going to keep playing this game, she needed to be a lot more wasted.

It was too bad that she had—because the alcohol loosened her tongue in ways she would have preferred they hadn't. "We've been doing a lot of dares, I think it's time for some truth."

Caroline smirked. "Bring it on."

Elena smiled. "Perfect idea Bonnie. I'll start. So, Caroline . . . Are you interested in anyone?"

Bonnie's head snapped from looking at Caroline to looking at Elena. She begged her with her eyes to take the question back.

Elena, sadly, was looking expectantly at Caroline. Caroline felt the truth spell nudge her—"Yes." Caroline clamped her hand over her mouth.

Elena smiled. "Yes! Secret boyfriend. Tell me about him."

Bonnie cut in before Caroline could open her mouth and answer, "One question at a time, Elena."

Bonnie didn't need to hear Caroline talk about him because she knew.

She didn't know how serious it was though, and it frankly didn't matter to her.

Because Bonnie was marrying Tyler the day after tomorrow—not Caroline.

Elena pouted slightly. "Fine."

Caroline avoided eye contact with Bonnie and stared at Elena, "So, Elena . . . "

XXXX

Damon was going to leave. He couldn't stay in Mystic Falls and watch Bonnie and Tyler get their happily ever after.

It would break him—not just heart, but soul, spirit. It would destroy everything that he was.

Stefan, however, appeared in front of him at that moment. "Don't leave."

"Stefan—I'm glad we've gotten the opportunity to bond for the past few years. I'm glad we don't have to be enemies anymore, but I still have to leave. Don't worry, we can keep in touch."

Stefan just smiled. "Damon, why are you leaving?"

"Because I can't watch it," Damon explained, almost as if he were trying to explain something to a particularly thick child.

"Then would you not leave if I told you that you don't have to?" Stefan asked smugly.

Damon looked at his brother like he'd lost his mind. "When did you become me?"

Stefan just smiled.

"Fine, what's the deal? Are we killing Lockwood? Because I'm behind that plan 100%."

Stefan's smile faltered. "No, we're not killing anyone. I have . . . knowledge that may be of use."

Damon turned away from his brother back to the bag he'd been packing before Stefan had interrupted him. "I'm not going back to ruining the wedding. It's a waste of time and it won't work."

Stefan shook his head. "Tyler is in love with someone else."

Damon's eyes darkened. "I'll kill him."

Stefan nearly smiled. "Down boy, he's not cheating on Bonnie or anything. I'm not even sure he realizes how he feels."

Damon stared at his brother for a moment. "How is that useful information then?"

"I have a plan."

"Well, good luck with that." Damon wasn't interested.

"She'll need you—because she'll be hurting. And you love her. Maybe you don't want to be with her, but you should still be there, just in case she needs you."

"She has Elena and Caroline."

"She doesn't."

"She doesn't?" Damon realized that that meant one of two things. "Either Elena's leaving you or Caroline . . . Oh."

"Exactly."

"What are you going to do?" Damon asked curiously.

"It's not just what I'm going to do. It's what you're going to do. I need you to talk to Bonnie and tell her how you feel. Be honest."

Damon's face shuttered. "I can't."

"You have to." Stefan said simply and left without waiting for Damon's reply.

XXXX

The next day was a disaster.

"Drugs, now." Bonnie demanded. Caroline handed both her and Elena a top secret hangover milkshake—made from a recipe she refused to share.

"Even better." Bonnie said thankfully before downing it. "I love how it's a milkshake."

"I just add ice cream," Caroline smiled perkily.

Elena groaned as she took her drink from Caroline. "I feel like this hangover could last a week."

Bonnie would have smiled but her face would have hurt too much. It was way too much effort. "Well it's a good thing it won't because I'm getting married tomorrow."

The words seemed to hang in the air in the silence between them. The three of them just stared at one another.

Finally, Bonnie spoke. "Oh my. I'm getting married tomorrow."

Caroline smiled—a strained sort of overly perky smile. "And we are so happy for you."

Elena smiled too—but a real smile. "We really are."

Caroline smirked, "Except the part where Elena's ridiculously jealous of you."

Elena glared at her friend good-naturedly. "Bitch. Group hug."

They hugged at the moment. And for that moment they were just three single best friends without a care in the world, pretending that things weren't all about to change.

XXXX

_The Morning of the Wedding_

Caroline woke up with a terrible headache. "What the hell?" She opened her eyes and realized that she didn't know where she was.

She sensed the presence of someone else. She turned quickly at a groan. "Tyler?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah . . . what's going on?"

"I don't know." Caroline jumped up and tried to open the door of the empty room they were in. "I can't open it." She tried using her superior strength to beat down the door. It didn't work. "Damn."

"What's going on?" Tyler asked.

Caroline turned back toward him. "I don't know."

XXXXXXX

Yay! Chapter complete. Review? Also: Anyone else absolutely love the Bamon in "Plan B"-because I totally loved it.


	9. Chapter 9

I disclaim. I'm kind of sad that this fic is almost over :( I've really enjoyed writing it. Thank you again for all of the lovely feedback I've received so far.

XXXXXX

Bonnie wasn't nervous.

She was a little sad—but that was to be expected. She was getting married and that was kind of a big deal.

It hadn't really hit her that she was getting married until recently. It was life-changing and crazy. She'd always expected that she'd get married—but she hadn't thought the groom would be Tyler. She never could have imagined something like that.

Now she was standing in front of a mirror in the church where they'd chosen to get married. She was wearing her wedding dress, and she couldn't stop looking at herself. It wasn't because she felt the need to glory in her own beauty—she just couldn't get over what the dress meant.

Compromise.

She liked the dress, and Tyler apparently loved it according to Caroline—who hadn't been able to keep her mouth shut about it until the wedding. She didn't really see it as bad luck because she knew she was going to marry Tyler, and he knew he was going to marry her—and there was absolutely nothing that would get in the way of it.

XXXX

"What happened?" Caroline asked Tyler who was seriously rubbing his head.

"I don't know. I wasn't feeling too well yesterday—had a hangover. I went to sleep early because of the wedding today, but then I woke up here."

"Oh." Caroline said, slightly perplexed. "I wonder—I went to sleep last night after having dinner with Elena, Bonnie and Stefan. I should have woken up whenever whoever brought us here tried to grab me."

"But you didn't."

"Maybe—" Caroline stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Who did you see yesterday before you went to sleep?"

Tyler thought for a moment, "Not many people. Stefan left before I woke up."

Caroline latched on to that bit of information, "Stefan? What were you doing with _Stefan_?" She wasn't teasing, she was genuinely curious.

"Bachelor party. I drank a little too much so he brought me back and put me in bed."

"That's odd."

"Yeah, it is."

They both sat quietly for a moment. "It must have been Stefan." Caroline said reluctantly. She really appreciated everything Stefan had done for her—including saving her from his brother years ago. He'd always been a good friend to her, so she didn't want to think badly of him. But there weren't a whole lot of other options.

"Huh. Didn't see that coming." Tyler almost smiled but then realized that he was stuck in some random empty room—except for him and Caroline—and he was supposed to be getting married soon. He didn't have time for this.

Oh. "What time is it?" Tyler turned quickly to Caroline who searched for her phone.

"I think he probably took our phones." Caroline sighed.

"Probably." Tyler replied.

"Damn it Stefan." Caroline was beginning to get angry now.

_"Did I hear someone take my name in vain?"_ They heard a voice. Stefan.

"What the hell, Stefan?" Caroline demanded.

Stefan was silent for a moment, Caroline eyed the room and tried to determine exactly where his voice was coming from. Stefan spoke while she did that, _"You two have unfinished business."_

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked, a bit of panic making its way into her voice.

Stefan sighed_. "I see how you two look at each other. And Bonnie is . . . my friend. I want to make sure you work out some of your issues before I let Tyler marry her."_

It almost made sense, Caroline realized. But only if he . . . "How did you know?"

Tyler turned and looked at her, completely stricken when she asked Stefan that.

Stefan chuckled. "_It's obvious. Anyway, the wedding should be fairly soon, so I'd get to it if I were you."_

XXXX

Bonnie sighed and smiled at her reflection. She could do this.

"Knock knock," Stefan said at the door as he nudged it open. "The wedding might be slightly . . . delayed. Just thought I'd come tell you myself."

Bonnie felt a weird mixture of emotions. "What do you mean, delayed?"

Stefan hesitated, "Tyler and Caroline are both running a little late."

"Caroline doesn't run late. She doesn't have it in her."

"Bonnie—"

Bonnie gave Stefan a stern look, "Am I missing something? What's wrong?"

"I can't, Bonnie. Just . . . wait." He started to leave but then turned back at the doorway, "Has, um, Damon stopped by today?"

Bonnie looked at Stefan as if he'd grown an extra five heads. "Why would he have?"

"He said he was going to leave. And I was just wondering if he came by to say goodbye."

"No." Bonnie felt her heart drop, then mentally berated herself. Her heart wasn't allowed to drop because Damon was leaving. This was a good thing, she assured herself. She wanted him to leave, it would make her life so much easier. She could start her life with Tyler without having to worry.

"Oh, okay." Stefan said, mildly disappointed. "Well, you look beautiful. I'm sure Tyler and Caroline will be here anytime now and we can start the wedding."

Bonnie forced a smile onto her face, "Thank you, Stefan."

"For what?" he asked, actually confused as to why she'd be thanking him.

"For being a good friend."

Stefan smiled and gave a little wave before he left Bonnie alone with her thoughts and her wedding dress.

XXXX

Stefan didn't like being disappointed in his brother, but sometimes he couldn't help but be.

Damon wasn't going to go to see Bonnie. Stefan wondered if there were actually still a reason to keep Caroline and Tyler locked up in the church basement—but then he realized that there was: Bonnie. Bonnie deserved better than this.

Tyler was in love with Caroline, and she was in love with him—and they were both too damned stupid to realize or admit it.

While he was at it Stefan decided to be annoyed with Damon and Bonnie. Regardless of whether or not Damon could tell her he loved her, she didn't love Tyler so she shouldn't have been marrying Tyler anyway. And Damon should have known better. He loved Bonnie—but he was running away.

All Stefan wanted was for everyone to be happy.

He decided to go back and check on Caroline and Tyler. At least some of this could work out.

XXXX

She couldn't do this. She couldn't be here, with him.

Caroline tried to avoid eye contact with Tyler—which mostly meant not looking at him because he was seriously _staring _at her.

"You're getting married today, Ty." Caroline had replied when he'd asked her what she'd meant when she was talking to Stefan about what he knew about Caroline's feelings.

"Only if we get out of here." Tyler briefly wondered why the idea of being late to his own wedding seemed so enticing. He'd thought he'd come to terms with his choice.

Caroline thought carefully for a moment. "Fine. I used to have feelings for you. I felt guilty so I pushed Bonnie at you. I thought I was in love with you, but now I'm okay. Now, can we get out of here?" Caroline looked around, obviously asking Stefan.

_"No. First of all, you're not telling the whole truth. Second, Tyler still needs to share. Both of you need to open your damn eyes."_

"Matt thought I was in love with you—and he was right." Tyler admitted.

"What?" Caroline looked at him in shock.

"But after everything that happened I couldn't—I had to let go. I never should have fallen for you in the first place," Tyler said sadly.

"Tyler—why didn't you tell me?"

"You'd just lost Matt. And then you started to shove me at Bonnie. What would you expect me to say?"

Caroline thought carefully. "You're right," she said softly. "We never would have had a chance."

Stefan cut in, "_Why not? At some point isn't love more important than details? Love should heal, not destroy. Instead you two are stupidly in love with each other and Tyler's supposed to be getting married to Caroline's best friend. What is wrong with you?" _Stefan seemed concerned, and mildly disgusted with both of them.

"I used to have feelings for Tyler, Stefan. Let it go. It's over."

Caroline expected Stefan to answer her, but was shocked when Tyler spoke instead. "He has a point."

"How so?"

"I still have feelings for you. I'm trying to make them just . . . go away."

"I—I can't even respond to that." Caroline looked down at her hands.

"I'm still in love with you. And Stefan's right—I shouldn't be marrying Bonnie today." Caroline looked up sharply.

"But—" Caroline's protest was interrupted by Tyler stepping close to her and placing his finger on her lips to shush her.

"The only real question is how are we going to fix this mess?"

"I love you, Ty." Caroline admitted softly. "But Bonnie is my best friend, and Matt—"

"You can never forgive me for what happened to Matt, I know."

Caroline realized that Stefan was still listening. She realized that Tyler could easily reveal what had happened so she did the only thing she could. She kissed him.

And it was perfect and lovely.

"Damn." Tyler said when they pulled apart. "I don't understand."

Caroline motioned toward the door to indicate Stefan. Tyler realized what she meant and went completely white and pale.

"Bonnie will never forgive us."

And Bonnie was more important than them, Tyler understood. Friendship was more important.

_"I wouldn't be so sure about that." _Stefan interrupted.

"Stefan, stop being so cryptic." Caroline demanded.

_"I think she kind of knew . . . and you know she'll forgive you. She loves you. And she'll move on."_

"He's right. She'd forgive us." Tyler said hesitantly.

Caroline looked at Tyler sadly. "But I can't forgive me."

"I love you." Tyler's eyes pleaded with her.

"I love you too."

"I can't marry Bonnie."

_"You know, she'd probably be more upset if there was no particular reason at all why you broke the wedding off the day of the wedding than if you suddenly realized that someone else had your heart."_ Stefan suggested softly.

"That's self-serving logic," Caroline snorted.

"It's true. And even if she couldn't forgive us, at least we'd have each other." Tyler was ready to take the risk.

_"So what is it, Caroline? What comes next?"_

The only question was, did Caroline feel the same?_  
_

XXXX

Bonnie smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle from her dress.

"Nice dress."

Bonnie turned around suddenly at the voice. "Damon."

"It's not really _you_ though." He commented casually as if she hadn't interrupted his flow of words. "It's too 'Mrs. Tyler Lockwood' and not enough 'Bonnie.'"

"Well I am going to be . . . " She didn't want to say it. Ugh. "'Mrs. Tyler Lockwood.'"

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Good for you. How's the groom?"

"Fine."

"Running a little late?" Damon asked innocently.

Bonnie crinkled her nose. "Do you have anything better to do than come and bother me while I'm getting ready for my wedding?"

Damon cleared his throat unnecessarily. "I came to say goodbye."

Bonnie forced herself not to be upset. She could do this. This was a good thing. The fact that her heart felt like it was breaking was obviously just an illusion because her well-being did not depend on Damon's presence.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet. Just away."

"Today?"

"Today."

"I—good luck."

"Thanks."

They stood staring awkwardly at each other for a moment. Damon moved first, he stepped forward and kissed her cheek. It was a soft brush that was over all too soon.

Before he pulled away he whispered in her ear, "I do love you. And I wish you the utmost of happiness."

Bonnie felt a tear drop out of the corner of her eye. When Damon pulled away he smiled softly and lifted his hand to wipe it away.

"You—why couldn't you say that before?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"Because I want you to be happy, Bonnie. And you're not going to find happiness with me."

Damon stepped back and began to leave.

"Wait!" Bonnie called out. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you love me."

"Yes."

Bonnie looked at him. Suddenly she propelled herself across the room and into his arms.

She pushed him back into the wall behind him. They kissed wildly and madly. It was rough, yet sweet.

Bonnie felt like everything inside of her had finally just opened up.

She saw. She loved Damon and she couldn't keep pretending that she didn't. He loved her, and she wasn't going to let him get away.

And she certainly wasn't going to marry Tyler.

All he'd needed to do was say the words and she was his forever.

"Tyler, it's this way." Bonnie heard giggling from right outside the room and jumped back out of Damon's arms. He looked at her in shock as Caroline and Tyler entered the room at that moment.

The four of them looked at each other and realized something was not quite right. Everyone seemed a bit out of breath and feverish. And Caroline and Tyler should not have been there, and neither of them were dressed for the wedding.

Damon broke the silence. "Well, this is awkward."

XXXXXX

One more chapter :)


	10. Chapter 10

Last chapter! I disclaim. This chapter did not want to be written for some reason. Anyways, fluff!

* * *

Everyone who knew Caroline knew that she could be a rambler. A babbler-her mouth could run a mile a minute-whatever term you wanted to suggest would probably fit the profile.

Without preamble, Caroline opened her mouth and began. "I completely understand if you want to run us off to some far off place. And I'm so incredibly sorry. Bonnie, I wish it hadn't happened this way and it's my fault, I understand that. I mean, you could even send us to some developing country with terrible weather where I'd be absolutely miserable if it would make you feel better. I'm so sorr-"

Bonnie held up her hand and stopped the flow of words. "Caroline, calm down. What are you talking about?"

"I'm in love with Tyler. And he's in love with me."

Bonnie was silent for a moment and everyone watched, waiting to see if she'd explode.

Finally, Bonnie spoke, "Okay."

Caroline calmed down for a moment. "Do you not understand what I'm saying?" Caroline turned to Tyler, "I think she's in shock. I don't think she gets it."

The stress was obviously getting to Caroline, and she didn't quite understand why Bonnie wasn't upset.

"Caroline, if the circumstances were any different I would be really upset. But we're going to be okay," with that Bonnie shifted slightly closer to Damon-physical proximity to him made her feel safer and happier. "It's a lot more complicated than it seems. But it's also simpler, if that makes sense."

At that Caroline looked confused, but stepped into the arms that Bonnie held wide open at that moment for a hug.

Damon raised an eyebrow, "What, no catfight? I'm disappointed. You two are breaking the womanly code of catfighting. If another girl breaks girl code and steals your guy you're supposed to smack the bitch."

Bonnie turned to Damon, "Damon!"

"Fine, you're supposed to smack the 'girl.'" Damon did exaggerated air quotes.

Bonnie glared at him. "There must be something seriously wrong with me." She turned to Tyler and gave him a hug even though he seemed incredibly uncomfortable. "You're going to be great together. I want you to be happy." Bonnie pulled away and looked at Damon.

"I think this is our cue to exit," Tyler said, recognizing that Bonnie and Damon obviously had important issues to discuss.

XXXX

"Well, that was easy." It actually shocked Damon to realize how easy it had been for Bonnie to say goodbye to the man she'd been about to marry.

Bonnie started pacing, ignoring Damon's words.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done that." Bonnie said. "Kissing you . . . was probably just a colossal mistake."

Bonnie wasn't upset with Damon, or with Tyler or Caroline. But what had she been _thinking?_ Obviously she'd lost her mind. Damon wasn't the commitment type, _and _he would drive her crazy within fifteen minutes.

Bonnie felt like she was seeing life with more clarity than she ever had before. Sure, she'd accepted that she loved Damon, and she didn't want to marry Tyler, but maybe that didn't mean they should be together-

"No." Damon replied simply, interrupting her train of thought.

"No what? No as in yeah, I shouldn't have done that? Or no as in-"

Bonnie was cut off by Damon's finger landing on her lips. "No as in it was not a mistake. Bonnie-" He stopped. This was hard to say. "I love you. I meant it."

"Good. I did too."

Bonnie and Damon stared into each others eyes for a moment.

Love was supposed to be enough, right? It was supposed to get her through the fact that she and Damon were a disaster waiting to happen, to get her through the fact that so much change had occurred within minutes. Love was supposed to be enough, Bonnie assured herself. They'd have to work hard at it, but it would work out. She had to believe that.

"So what comes next?" She asked nervously.

Damon, noting her nervousness, took her hands in his. "We figure it out. Together."

Bonnie was about to comment on how shockingly enlightened he sounded when he cut her off with a sharp kiss. After that she'd completely forgotten just about everything, except for her and Damon in that single moment.

XXXX

The day of the failed wedding attempt was the best day of Bonnie's life.

She wasn't hurt that Caroline and Tyler were in love—she was pretty sure she'd realized it a few months beforehand, but she hadn't mentioned it because she thought they had it under control. She'd also thought she had her feelings for Damon under control—but she couldn't have been further from the truth.

Things, however, were better this way. Sure, there were many confused wedding guests, but the four of them hadn't really cared.

Instead, after the awkward moment where they all realized that the wedding wasn't going to happen, they celebrated. They'd also thanked Stefan-but punished him for meddling by making him tell everyone that there would not be a wedding.

They still had the reception, and they still had fun. But in the end, when they all went home, they went home with the people they were meant to be with.

Finally, they'd all opened their damn eyes and stopped drowning in denial.

At first Bonnie hadn't been quite sure how to handle the relationship between Caroline and Tyler—but eventually she'd just accepted it for what it was. There was forgiveness on both sides, and all Bonnie had to do was figure out whether or not she and Damon had a chance to really, truly be happy together.

XXXX

Bonnie didn't ever think she would be this happy. Somehow she was, and with Damon—so nothing was as she'd expected it to work out.

It does though—it works surprisingly well. Caroline and Tyler are happily planning their own wedding, and Bonnie and Damon are just . . . perfect. Or, at least, Bonnie thinks so.

Damon doted—something Bonnie hadn't really expected at all. He's not perfect, but Bonnie has realized that her favorite parts about Damon are the parts she thought she'd least be able to accept.

The fact that his humor is biting and borderline cruel now amuses her—partially because he's not as 'mean' as he used to be.

She brought out the best in him. When Stefan mentioned that to Damon he'd scowled, but he'd smiled when he thought no one else was looking.

_They made each other happy._

XXXX

"I'm going to die." Bonnie said. They were lying on the ground looking up at the dark night sky.

"You're human, it happens." Damon forced the words from his throat.

"I want you to make me proud when I'm gone. Don't go around screwing crazy chicks _à la_ Katherine."

Damon was glad Bonnie couldn't see his face-he was genuinely upset. "Are you really going to pretend you don't know?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." Bonnie sat up nervously, facing Damon."What's wrong?"

"I'm not going to let you go." Damon said simply, as if he would accept no arguments. He was set, there were no alternative view points.

Bonnie—in the same stubborn way that made Damon love her—raised an eyebrow. "You have to."

"I won't."

Bonnie opened her mouth, ready to argue, when Damon closed the space between them and kissed her.

They pulled apart seconds later and Bonnie stared—just a little starry-eyed—at him. "This doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

_Yeah, it does_, Damon thought. But it didn't matter. He swooped back down and kissed her again.

It was an argument for another day. Ideally, it was an argument for a day when it was too late for her to do anything about it.

XXXX

Bonnie normally would have used her "witchy magic" to give Damon an aneurysm, but in this case she was so shocked she did the next best thing.

She slapped him. Hard. The contact of her hand with Damon's face was loud, and it sounded like something cracked. "I said not to."

"I didn't agree."

Bonnie glared at him. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Love me."

That stopped Bonnie dead in her tracks. She'd asked Damon not to turn her, but he'd done so anyway. She should be furious, and she was. But she also didn't want to leave Damon in this world alone. And she didn't want to leave him.

Love, it seemed, was sometimes more important than pride and the principle of the situation.

Bonnie didn't smile, but her scowl left her face. "You're going to spend the next 100 years making this up to me."

Damon smiled. "I think I can do that." He leaned down and kissed her.

"I love you, even though you're infuriating sometimes."

"You love me because I'm infuriating sometimes. I love you too, even though you're ridiculously stubborn and occasionally insane."

"It's why you love me." Bonnie smiled.

As Bonnie reflected she realized how incredibly lucky she had been.

She had no regrets—and she did have the love of her 'life.' And that, frankly, was all that mattered.

* * *

Thank you to all of the lovely reviewers-especially since some of you reviewed _every _chapter. I tried to respond to most of them, but when I do that I get distracted by writing, and I miss them sometimes. Anyways, I wish you all much happiness and joy! :)


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